Championship Watford 1 Bristol City 0 Full time

Watford have won five home Championship games in a row, keeping three consecutive clean sheets

Watford climbed into the Championship's play-off positions with a narrow victory over Bristol City at Vicarage Road.

Ryan Andrews drilled the ball into the far corner in the second half, after his goalkeeper Daniel Bachmann had made a string of fine stops to prevent the Robins from scoring.

Nahki Wells and Anis Mehmeti both came close for the visitors, who struggled to offer an attacking threat after they went a goal behind.

The result means that Watford - who are up to fifth in the table - have gone 12 home league games unbeaten for the first time since January 1999, while Bristol City slip to 11th.

A cagey start saw few clear chances for either side, with Watford's Giorgi Chakvetadze volleying wide and Mehmeti having a shot blocked at the other end.

But the visitors then started to establish control, with close-range stops from Bachmann keeping out both Wells' shot and Luke McNally's header.

Liam Manning's side kept up the pressure, but Wells could only head over the bar, and Mehmeti's strike from the left-hand side was another effort gathered by Bachmann.

After the half-time break, the Hornets keeper continued where he left off, diving low to repel Max Bird's free-kick.

But the ultimate reward for Bachmann's saves came when Chakvetadze slid Andrews in down the right-hand side, and the wing-back fired the ball in off the post from the edge of the box with his side's first shot on target.

The away side then looked frustrated by their inability to rediscover the creativity that they had shown in the first half as substitute Scott Twine rattled the bar from distance.

In all, they had 19 shots compared to just eight for Watford, who held on for their fifth home league win in a row, cementing manager Tom Cleverley's comments that his side intend to challenge for promotion.

Watford keeper Daniel Bachmann could only watch as the ball hit the bar in one of a series of chances missed by Bristol City

'Robins were the brighter side' - Reaction

Watford manager Tom Cleverley told BBC Three Counties Radio:

"They looked the brighter side and a bit more comfortable in possession throughout the whole game.

"Whereas against Oxford and Blackburn, I was a little bit hands to the pump and treading on eggshells, today it felt a bit more structured.

"Mindset was solid and we saw the last 15 minutes out really efficiently.

"They were dropping into pockets and finding spaces. They rotated into dangerous areas really well and caused us a few problems."

Bristol City manager Liam Manning told BBC Radio Bristol:

"[It was] probably a similar feeling to the weekend around the emotional frustration and disappointment.

"There was so much good, especially first half, I thought we were so dominant.

"We pressed well, some terrific play with the ball, but with real purpose. Normally, when you are on top like that and you dominate, you have to make it count.

"At this level, you switch off for one minute, you can get punished. Hugely disappointing to concede one shot on target and lose the game."